Blog entry

“The good-looking, melodious-voiced William Mountfort played both tragic and comic lovers to perfection, and was mourned by theatergoers and colleagues alike when he died, the innocent victim of a swordfight over Mrs. Bracegirdle.”

I came across that sentence in a history of the English theater. That was it. No further explanation.

In the early 19th century there were four Tree sisters, all of whom went on the stage. (If there were three of them, one could probably create a nice tongue twister, but there were four.) Ellen Tree, who married the noted actor Charles Kean, was the only one who remained in the theater, performing with her husband as Mrs. Charles Kean until his death.